top bid for naming her baby. "happening now" starts now. [captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- jon: it is an issue affecting every american. heading to the white house for a close-door meeting on the issue. six senators have been at work on a health-care overhaul that can win support from both parties. only 39% actually say they are doing a good job. mike is live at the white house.

they are going to meet with the president. what is that conversation going to be like? >> good question. they want a status report, an update on the negotiation, and the focus is making sure that it is accomplished. if there is a bipartisan option, this gang of six is a critical component in making the effort. jon: we know that the president is big on deadlines. >> robert gibbs says he does not expect the president to give deadlines. the message is to keep working, that he wants to get this done, but at this time, and they hope that health care reform can get done by the end of the year, and that is the message.

jon: any white house response yet? >> no, it is not clear whether it is bothering them, but it cannot make them feel good. the popularity of his handling on the issue has dropped. 39% four, 52% against, and that has to be troubling to his advisers. jane: and we're watching capitol hill right now. if the judge sotomayor is confirmed today, she will be the first hispanic judge on the court. eight have pledged support for her, and she needs 50 votes in

all to win confirmation. 98 out of 100 senators will be voting in total, and robert byrd will be present. the vote is expected at eight eastern. jon: this morning, the louisiana democrat is facing 20 years in prison. when the fbi raided the jefferson's house, they found $90,000 of cash in his freezer, wrapped in foil and stuffed in piecrust boxes. authorities say he took over $400,000 in bribes. his attorney says he will appeal his conviction. jane: brand new developments in a horrific crash in new york. a mother in her many man was going the wrong way -- in her

minivan was going the wrong way on the highway. the crash killed her daughter and three nieces. the husband of the woman is calling for another autopsy. she had taught and the equivalent of about 10 shots of alcohol in her system. a news conference is scheduled for two hours for from now. it is thought she might have had diabetes or a brain infection, because she had a severe abscess. the lawyer for three other adults will be joining us in the next hour. jon: three men accused of killing a wealthy couple are scheduled for court today. byrd and melanie billings were shot to death in their bedroom when all of their children were home.

more arrests are possible. they believe the main motive was robbery. jane: madeline mccann was only 4 years old when she disappeared from her family's a hotel room and portugal. she would now be six. private detective says they have a significant new lead in the search for this battle girl. -- little girl. she resembles victoria beckham. say a british man has come forward, saying that they spoke in a bar just 72 hours before she disappeared. take a listen. >> the witness got up and walked over toward the woman. they had a short conversation.

it was significant to the investigation and to her disappearance. forster operational reasons, we will not divulge any details of what was said to the witness by the woman. jane: on the phone with us is david brown of "the times of london." can you explain more about what we know or don't know? >> we do not know. she is described as a look- alike. she spoke to a man who she thought to his meeting had some involvement. they went around to barcelona in about the time that this woman

came forward. there was a dreadful fear that she was involved in the stealing of the child. jane: i remove their he had described her as agitated. -- i know he described her as agitated. >> she had been planning to meet someone there. during the discussion, in which we do not know the details, she got the impression she knew something. he waited two years before coming forward to speak to the investigators hired by her parents. jane: do they consider him credible? i guess they must. >> they say there is a good personal reason for not coming forward.

investigators have been receiving hundreds of calls, and this is the first time they have come out with a specific request. i think we have to assume that these guys know what they're doing. jane: sounds promising. thank you. jon: let's get caught up on what is going on on wall street this hour. the dow is down about 11 points. we have more with generally about what is going on with the markets. -- more with jenna. >> there are a few reports today. one is jobless claims, the amount of americans filing for first-time unemployment, and that showed a little bit of a drop. but what concerns some investors is the amount of americans maintaining unemployment, continuing to collect benefits, is up again.

we're getting information on sales for many retailers today, same-store sales, showing americans shopping at places like ross and t.j. max, but not twice as much in costco or target. we are still out there, just not everywhere. and this is what happened on friday. the markets are not working at a whole bunch. we got a big and employment report tomorrow morning, so investors are quite a head of that, and there are mixed messages. jane: we are going to update you about the cash for clunkers program. can you take part?

also, waiting for a meeting to begin at the white house. a group called the gang of six, six centers on the finance committee. if you want to know where the work will be done, it will be done in that committee, amongst these six members. they may be in the building, deciding what will happen to our health care system. that meeting is set to get under way five minutes or so. quality and reliability... are more than words here. it's personal. i have diabetes. rodney's kid too.

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jane: about 13 minutes past the hour. a lot of voters have been showing up to the town hall meetings on health care. some come with questions, and some come angry, but some democrats think the anchor is manufactured. jon: patrick leahy, chairman of the judiciary committee, is starting to vote on judge sotomayor. will she become a justice today?

the vote is expected this afternoon. jane: the dow is down about 14. jenna is watching the numbers for us. jon: what a little more cash in the cash for clunkers program? the senate might pour it in there. there are voting today to add $2 billion to what has turned out to be a popular program. the move could trigger a half million new car sales. wendell is at the white house with more for us. the white house says the program is out of money tomorrow. is there any chance the senate would not renew it? >> not much. senate majority leader harry reid plans to start debate after the debate on -- vote on sotomayor this afternoon. he thinks he has the votes to pass it, and it is the last

order of business before the august recess. so opponents of the program are not going to want to spend a lot of time on what they know is a losing effort. supporters say that the program is the most effective program there is, doing all the right things, taking gas-guzzlers' off the street, replacing them with cars that get better mileage. critics say that it is more deficit spending and bailout money, another example of the government choosing winners and losers. jon: is it true that most of them are built by foreign manufacturers? >> 6 of the top 10 cars are built by foreign manufacturers, but most of them are built in this country. hyundai has added protection in alabama. gm has the biggest share of new car sales, detroit's big three

has a little more than 45%, and the three japanese companies have about 36%. jon: all right. thank you. jane: if you drive a midsize sedan, a fender bender could put a big dinner in your wallet. they tested bumpers based on repairs at low-speed crashes, and the mazda 6 was the only car to get an acceptable rating, with repair cost averaging about $871. here is how the top midsize cars feared. all of the costs came in at over a thousand dollars. mitsubishi came in second, followed by honda, sunday, and the ford fusion. jon: watch that video. it is like, "stock, already!

flying on both sides of the issue. and are hardball tactics over shadowing policy debates? a look at what is happening next.

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jane: a new front in a battle over health-care reform. this does not focus on your insurance plan, whether you keep your doctor, how much it costs. this is about the tactics being used, specifically at the town hall meetings across the country with members of congress, the democrats claim republicans are planting protesters in the audience to disrupt the meetings. take a listen.

>> this mob activity is straight from the playbook of high-level republican political operatives. they have no plan for moving the country forward, so they have called out the mob. jane: michael steele is firing back, saying that they are using a fear and smear tactic to silence any american who disagrees with their scheme to nationalize one fifth of our economy. it is a page out of their playbook of name-calling and outright lies. we have a senior fellow at the cato institute, as well as the former finance chairman of the dnc. what is going on here? >> both sides send ringers to the events. any political event is stuffed with people who are paid to be there. people hold up of seen signs, and they're almost always

working for the other side. this is what happens in every campaign i've covered for the last 17 years. par for the course. but it does not mean there are not legitimate sentiment behind these protesters on both sides. to claim otherwise about their views is wrong. jane: when you look at the poll numbers, but it flies in the face. a new poll says that 52% disapprove of how obama handles healthcare. >> this is just what happens. whether it is an issue, a political campaign -- you remember president bush, and now it will happen during the health-care debate. tucker is right. some issues are legitimate, and others are just propaganda, and

people must decide what is real and what is not. and as these members of congress are at home, going for recess, they will hear an earful, and it will go back and voice their concerns about it to the president. he thinks that the united states should not be the only industrialist country in the world without health care for all citizens, so he is clearly on board said of the issue, and people have right to voice concerns. jane: years in meeting debt steve k in held on health care. take a listen. he had a great quote. he said that there was a sufficient amount of anger there, and the referee made the wrong call. i do not think the people of northwest wisconsin would have

behaved this way spontaneously. i want to stay with you. why did democrats think that this works? >> you cannot control every voice and every word of every person across the country on these kinds of debates, and no one will justify it. america is all about democracy, and i do not think you can tell republicans not to say certain things. they send out talking points, but not every single american gets on the talking point e-mail list. so it does not work that way. they are allowed to voice their concerns, and we will see how the chips fall. >> the republican party is at a low point right now. it is a very disorganized. they could not put together might daughter's sixth birthday

party at this time. there is no possibility that these are orchestrated. the polls tell a story. people are afraid of this much change. it does not matter what i think, it is clear that there is a grassroots movie -- movement. israel, and that has got to worry the obama administration. i know that it does worry them. >> change can be painful. clearly, the american people voted for this. this is what he campaigned on. he did not just break this up the day after being inaugurated. clearly, the people want this. change can be painful, but they wanted. -- want it. jane: people may have voted for the concept of change, but now we are going to the nitty gritty details. he did not give us the details of health care reform.

>> he gave a pretty detailed plan. not every single plan to president puts up is validated by the people. >> i do not know anybody on this plan. to think that millions of americans know, that is just not true. jane: tucker, michael, thank you. jon: about three points five hours away from what is expected to be the senate vote on judge sotomayor, whether or not she will be confirmed as a supreme court justice. one highlight we're just learning is that senator robert

byrd, one of the longest serving senators ever, is expected to vote. he is pushing 90, but expected to cast his vote. we will have the tele around 3:00 p.m. eastern this afternoon. another blow to the housing market. why your house might not be worth what you think. what that means for the mortgage industry.

jon: welcome back.

they're talking about supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. how many republicans will join democrats in voting for her. jane: seas made off with thousands of dollars worth of camping gear. jon: and a change to the 2009 hurricane season. what we can expect. jane: and report due next week on afghanistan has been put on hold. we may not get it until the end of september, but we are learning what may have been in the first draft. >> we are hearing why secretary gates wanted to talk about this

strategy review. it was highly unusual, and now we know why he went. take a listen to his press secretary. >> he has been told to take beyond 60 days if needed. >> the beginning was cut off, but it basically said that robert gates wanted the head general to take into consideration a few new ideas. we know it would be so deft alongside this report that more resources and troops would be needed, and it is politically sensitive. there is far from a consensus,

and many people acknowledge that if you want to do what he says he should do, which is to double the size, you are going to have to send more troops. there is a great deal of debate, and also there are members of the special operation forces who think, hey, we might have a better way of doing this, rather than sending large brigade combat teams. there is a debate, a tug of war. jon: a private florida company is one step away from a successful launch in the new mexico desert. cool.

a low altitude, unmanned rocket was launched from new mexico's spaceport america. jane: a salmonella scare is sparking the recall of thousands of ground beef products produced in fresno, calif., between the june and the 23rd of june. the beef was distributed in arizona, california, colorado, and utah. jon: the dow is down about 20 points, with news on the housing front.

the percentage of folks could double in the next two years. a whopping 48% of americans might wind up in that situation. say it is not so. >> it means being under water, when you owe more on your home than it is worse -- worse. deutsche bank is saying that it does not matter what kind of loan you have, what kind of mortgage. it will get worse for all of that. and one of the reasons why so many of us are under water is because prices have declined severely. but some things point to stabilization. we're seeing a refinancing and modification, and some index is telling us that prices are

stable in certain parts of the country and improving in certain areas. so we are talking about this, and it is said to come back to jobs. we can modify mortgages, and a lot of government grants are working right now. our fate is not sealed. jane: twister, the on-line service, is offline, and hackers may be to blame. but it to courtney. what is going on?

>> for those of you who do not know, twister is a way to update your friends online in 140 characters or less. a lot of people are addicted. they had an outage, and they're blaming it on hackers and defending against a denial of service attack and will update their status partly. that is what a hacker uses to steal your information. a lot of people on to what are going crazy, with no way to broadcast their information. get this. a mother has put her seventh child's name up for sale on ebay, but you had better hurry. she already has six kids.

she is out of names and cash. she is out of names and cash. the ebay auction is legal, and she says she will honor the winning request and allow a visit with the child. speaking of babies, check out this new, controversial doll that breast feeds.

the dollar makes sucking noises and cries for more melt. critics say it promotes early pregnancy, but some others think it is good because it encourages natural nursing. next, a story about a virtual girlfriend. and hopefully twitter will be back up. jane: courtney, thank you. jon was to tell people when he stubs his toe or she is hungry. jon: how low can you go? a thief steals from the cub scouts. thousands of dollars worth of their camping gear. coming up, we will hear what happened. (announcer) big news for stiff joint sufferers.

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jon: caught on tape, fla. police consoling a newlywed woman after telling her that her husband has been murdered. a whole lot more to this story. she might deserve an oscar for the performance she puts on here. plus, a husband of diane shuler is holding a news conference later today, she is the woman who drove her minivan the wrong way on the highway, killing several people. and we will tell you why braised goat, if that is your pleasure, is turning up on more menus. a taste test you cannot miss, coming up. jane: now to lodi, california.

a heated debate over public prayer. before every council meeting, an indication is given. claudia is in the bureau. >> you can forget about potholes and traffic problems. the biggest concern out there has been what to do about this two-minute prayer opening every city council meeting. >> local pastors have given indications for decades, but now christians are complaining. >> we want people to feel comfortable when they come into the meetings. >> groups advocating separation of church and state argued that they are violating the constitution, and their own policy of using only nondenominational in vocations.

now, they're fighting to keep god in city government. >> we will ask the mayor to defend the prayer in jesus's name in court. we think we can win this if the city will just have a backbone and support the pastor. >> both sides are using facebook and twitter to drum up support among citizens, many of whom showed up at a rally before sunday's meeting. >> there is a lot of passion, and boast site's site of the constitution and case law to defend their position. jane: mayor larry hansen is right in the middle of it. in weeks ahead, the council will consider whether to change the invocation policy, but with atheists and secular groups threatening to sue, the mayor says a potentially devastating civil rights judgment against the city may settle the matter.

jon: a story out of south florida that makes you wonder what kind of person would do something like this. thousands of dollars worth of temps, parks, and camping. and now, the committee chairs for cub scout pack 114. how long did the cubs safe. how long did the cubs safe. they had all the stuff they were going to use for their camping trip, right? tents, and a thing?

do you like camping? >> yes. jon: what do you like about it? >> i just like the whole thing. what did you think when you found out your gear was gone? what did you think. >> back and forth. back and forth. jon: someone just pitched the trailer up and hauled it out of the storage space? >> i guess so. all the gear is gone. they backed the truck or something up to it and it all went away. jon: did it say something about the cubs got on it? did they know what they were

getting? >> no. it was just a plain trailer. there were no markings on it. jon: one of the things i heard is that tragically, they may have just taken the trailer to cut it up for scrap metal. >> i heard that, too. but we really do not know that for sure. i guess that is typically what happens. jon: lucas, what do you cub scouts say to each other? >> do your -- jon: i did not mean to -- >> do your best. jon: well, somebody did a bad thing to your pack, didn't they. >> absolutely. yes, they did.

jon: but you have had someone come forward and offer to donate a new trailer? >> actually, yes, we have. we have a company called campout who donated the trailer to us, and we have also had storage for the next six months donated, and you locks' and things donated. jon: you still have to do that. thank you. jane: harris is working on twister. it is out, and they think that hackers may be to blame. just out, a new forecast for the hurricane season. how the gulf coast should be preparing, what kind of major storms. .

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a child who needs you is waiting.

please call. >> hi. you are watching "happening now." a lot to let you know what is going on with twitter. we have just received a statement. i was just sending out tweets. twitter.com is back up and running. they said, attacks such as this are malicious efforts orchestrated to make on available services such as online banks, credit card payments, and in this case, is whethetwitter. we will update our status blog.

in the meanwhile, they have been able to get the twitter.com back up. right now, it is having snail fail. the careful, if you are addicted to tweeting. jane: thank you. could be some good news for people along the gulf coast. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration is daily back the forecast for the 2009 hurricane season. we are just entering peak hurricane season now. >> the pacific is active. this is felicia. category four, 140 m.p.h. winds. it is expected to weaken before it hits hawaii.

noaa is downgrading some of their numbers. you're the recent numbers. one to two major hurricanes. that is down from one to three that we expected in may. they're expecting six hurricanes as opposed to opposed to seven. they're expecting a below average season. we're headed into peak season. there's a lot of what we are expecting. august is when we start to get busy. look at september and even october. it just takes one back hurricane to make an active year. remember in 1992, we had hurricane andrew that formed in august and became one of three category five storm to hit the u.s. this is typically where we see activity, across the central

atlantic. we have a wave that is not expected to develop in the next few days. here's how it looks for august. anywhere from the islands off of africa in toward the caribbean. august, september, and october is peak season. in the pacific, we have two named storms, felicia and enrique. police is a category four. look at the storm. enrique is being absorbed by felicia. none of these storms will affect the land at this time. jon: cops tell a newlywed woman and her husband has been killed. she braced, and collapsed in grief. he is very much alive.

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[captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- jon: happy thursday to you. i am jon scott. right now, the fate of the president's top legislative priority. it is the future of your health care. we are talking about president obama meeting behind closed doors at the white house with key members of the senate finance committee, known as the gang of six. it is a group of three republicans and three democratic senators. they are trying to reach some sort of compromise on health care reform. molly henneberg is in washington. what is going on today? >> as you said, president obama is intervening personally today, trying to get some agreement among the six members of the senate finance committee who are trying to get a bill finished by

the end of the week before the august recess begins. of course, they are at the white house discussing health care with the president today. the house committee has already passed a health care reform bill. it is the senate finance committee that is much more focused on how to pay for all that. they are taking a little bit longer to figure that out. president obama will be talking to them today. jon: where does this stand? do they have a proposal or an amendment? >> there's a sidebar going on around this as well. it is an amendment that says the members of congress, if the government passes a public option, there is an amendment that members of congress will have to get into as well. that is included in the senate health committee bill. senator tom coburn introduced the amendment and it passed. require every member of congress

to go into the public options. tom coburn is opposed to the public option but he said the congressmen and women should get into that plan to feel the same effects of the plant. jon: who is opposed? >> we're still talking about the senate health committee. 10 of 11 votes against it in the senate health committee were from democrats. other democrats that are not even on the committee say they do not like the amendment because it suggests the public option will be the only insurance option and they say that premise is wrong. they have to make the case that the public option would be a twist that would be mandatory. republicans say that is not the case. . jon: molly henneberg, interesting. thank you.

jane: the senate is three hours away from holding the final vote on the president's supreme court nominee, sonia sotomayor. it is all but a sure bet. here's a live picture from the senate floor. republicans have been speaking. they will turn the floor back over to the democrats to the full senate will vote at 3:00 p.m. eastern. the question now is not whether she will be confirmed, but by what margin. shannon bream, how many votes do we expect her to pull in? >> will we know so far about but members have said publicly about how they intend to vote, we expect to get into the high sixties for her yes votes. 30 republicans have said they will vote no. in the context of history, the most recent justice to be confirmed, it samuel alito, that in a 58-42. just before that, chief justice john roberts, 78-22.

we expect her to fall between. senator kennedy will not be here today. she will not have the full 100 senators. senator byrd is a wild card. we do not know if he will be part of this vote. the senators will be formally voting today. we expected to happen around 3:00 p.m. jane: a handful of the republicans have said they will vote for her. is that unusual? >> she will probably fall between what we saw was justice and legal and chief justice roberts. with justice alito, four democrats crossed over the aisle. with roberts, we saw a much bigger stretch. 22 democrats. it was a much more bipartisan vote. now, we have republicans voting yes for sonia sotomayor. there's still one unknown. jane: what happens then? does she get sworn in right

away? does she get to work right away? >> there's a little bit of mystery. we do not know what the white house may or may not have planned. she may be quickly sworn in. it could happen today or one week from now. we're not exactly sure. there is an early taste that will come down september 9 that the justices will hear. -- there is an early case that will come down september 9. it could be an earlier start than the traditional october starts. we're anxious to see which way she goes on the first case. it is a bit controversial. it involves a political document about hillary clinton. jon: secretary of state hillary clinton promised in the u.s. will expand its support for somalia in its battle against al-qaeda link extremists. she made the remarks after audrey in deep victims of the deadly attacks on embassies of tanzania. clinton also met with survivors.

she said america and its allies must renew resolve to insurance such attacks do not occur again. jane: a roadside bomb went off hitting a group of people celebrating a wedding in the southern province. police in several women and children are among the dead. it is north of the taliban stronghold thousands of american and british soldiers are now pushing into the region. jon: back to a major safety issue under discussion in the u.s. senate committees holding a hearing on the relationship between major airlines and these smaller carriers they rely upon. senators really in some company ceo's about pilot stress levels in the wake of the bermuda flight just outside buffalo, new york. the disaster claimed 50 lives.

investigators say the pilots may have been tired. jane: the faa is ordering boeing to make adjustments to fuel tanks of more than 400 of the 767's to prevent the risk of a devastating in-flight explosion. this is the latest in many cities stakeeps in the wake of e plane exploded over the of lentiatlantic. jon: the debate on climate change is getting hot line one senate committee hearing room today. the senate'environment and public works committee is debating a cap and trade plan. steve centanni is following this from our d.c. bureau. this is a little complicated. >> cap and trade is part in a value on permits to pollute and

discouraging companies from doing so. democrats led by barbara boxer are hoping to incorporate the basic elements of the house bill that was passed in june into their own senate legislation, which is yet to be written. republicans and the ranking committee member are hoping to make something of fundamental changes on this bill. on the table are that cap and trade proposal that would establish carbon credits to discourage pollution. there are proposals to reduce industrial emissions. here's a sample where the two sides stand. >> legislation that provides powerful incentives for the development of clean energy technologies would put america to work. >> off we go into the august resources secure in the knowledge that cap and trade is writteriddled with flaws. >> a fine it senate bill is expected to be written by late september, possibly passed in october, and they're working on that now.

that is what this hearing is all about. jon: steve centanni, thank you. jane: a dramatic scene in california. a truck on the highway. >> this is where the 5 freeway meets the 210. this is a big, dangerous mess. a truck tipped over and lost its load. you can see the train tracks. they are clean it up. the driver was taken to the hospital did we do not know his condition, but we understand that his injuries are serious. this is in southern california. this is causing some back up. as gawkers go by to try to see this, it is a big mess. jane: thank you. the killer of three women that were at eight of aerobics class

and has left a chilling legacy. >> it is easy for me to hide from my emotions for one more day. jane: the glimpse it gives and to george sodini's shirts sold. we're waiting for the husband of a woman who drove the wrong way down the highway. he is expected to speak at the top of the hour. he says the police are not right. they say this woman was drunk and high. she killed seven people including herself. the family of two of the victims of this case have some very strong thoughts on this case. yourself.

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jane: the man who shot three women dead in the health club in pennsylvania has left behind a chilling reminder. it is a chilling video posted by the gunman, george sodini, posted on youtube.

>> it is easy for me to hide it from my emotions for one more day. take a long drive by the car, listen to some music, daydream, or just do a mundane task around the house that is not too important. there you go. one more day. one more day turns into one more year. my objective is to be real and to be able to emotionally connect with people. when i am 10 years older or 20 years older than she is, she has to feel good about this thing. jane: police say he targeted this fitness club up for months and he posted his intentions on line on his blog. jon: the husband of diane schuler will hold a news conference. she is the driver of that crash

that killed eight people including herself. he is expected to announce he wants his wife's body exhumed for a second autopsy, possibly to challenge the medical examiner's claims that his wife was not only very drunk, but also high. investigators defended that record as a threat. according to reports, he believes his wife may have suffered some kind of stroke, or possibly have a medical problem while she was behind the wheel. investigators say they're hoping to learn more by questioning her family, who police say have offered limited cooperation so far. joining us now, the lawyer for the bastardi family. he represents two of the three men killed in the suv. you met with authorities. you were pressing them for criminal charges.

>> that is not quite accurate. i said there was a strong fragrance of criminality. that is not asking for charges. in other words, i was proselytizing the prosecutors and the police. jon: is it not possible that if there were any criminal charges here, they crudapproved to diane schuler. >> undoubtably. we're working now on a person who is not dead. with respect to that, maybe people who were accessories before or during or after the fact. jon: we are looking at some pictures of your clients, guy bastardi, and his father, michael. you are representing their stestate.

do you have any knowledge that there's criminal culpability on the other people involved? >> absolutely not. jon: what is your eventual goal? are you planning to sue her estate? >> this incident occurred relatively recently. there's a great deal of investigation that must be completed before we can finalize our strategy in this case. we are going to look to protect our client. by the same token, i cannot at this time say that we have proof of criminality on anyone because we have not done enough investigation. nor have we found that the district attorney and police

officer included -- their investigation. i was told at a conference with the district attorney's conference yesterday that they were continuing to look into this matter, and they have not concluded their investigation. at this point in time, nobody has been able to put their finger on a specific criminal charge that can be proved. that is why i say there's a strong plea rents of criminality, but we did not have proof of actual criminality. jon: mr. schuler has lost his wife and lost a child. he lost onto move three -- he lost three nieces. is there a point where you say, everyone has suffered enough? >> we cannot avoid the feeling

of tremendous sorrow for those who ended up dead, for the parents who survived this and must live with the fact that their children were killed in an automobile accident. of course it is a great deal of tragedy and a great deal of grief. by the same token, remember my clients. they have lost a father and brother and a close friend. jon: it is so sad. thank you. jane: take a look at the floor of the u.s. senate. keep their right here and you can watch some history being made today. members will be confirming the first hispanic supreme court justice, sonia sotomayor. we expect the vote in less than three hours from now. also, have you thought about what is for dinner? william la jeunesse is here.

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jane: to you know what the most popular meat in the world is? if it is goat. if one rancher gets its way, it will turn up on menus and on your dinner table. william la jeunesse is here from a ranch in california. what does it taste like? >> i love it. i am going to milk this segment

for all this worse. it is very popular in places like india and the middle east and so forth. the question is, how does it taste? how do you get americans to try this? i'd try it. the health benefits are unbelievable. it is low ryan calories, lower in fat, lower in cholesterol, and higher in protein than chicken, beef, or pork. how do get people to try it? the owner of this ranch approached people around the country and made them an offer they cannot refuse. >> several situations where the chef says we cannot sell that. i said, put it on the menu and if you cannot sell it, we will not charge you for it. >> it is much more lean, much

more clean. >> you can make it, you can grill it. i found it quite good. jane: this man who is pushing it, what makes him think that american consumers will buy it? >> sometimes on your menu, you will see his name. his name is synonymous with quality in beef and pork. he pioneered the idea of all natural grass fed beef. now he has turned to goats. one reason is sustainability. actually worked together. he has had interest from costco. the key is you buy goat that is

meant for meat, not the dairy goats. nevertheless, they are pretty friendly. jane: if he it's your audio cable, you need the -- you eat him. >> he ate the audio cable. i cannot actually hear you. jane: [laughter] you'll never be able to eat goat meat again. thank you. jon: lawmakers are reaching out to the public for meetings on health care reform. they are getting an earful in return. >> free the bill.

jon: is all this outrageous genuine, or is it concocted for show? people are speaking out on health care. the hecklers on our web page -- another great way to get fair and balanced tot's on health care.

jon: here is what this "happening now." another senate republicans says he will vote for supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. he is the ninth republican to come out in favor of her. you are looking at senator jeff sessions of alabama. the senate is debating the issue right now. these are live pictures from the senate floor. the vote should come in the next few hours. if confirmed, sonia sotomayor will become the first hispanic woman on that court. jane: cash for clunkers program is expected to dent a $2 billion refilled.

the program has been running out of money. it offers cash to car buyers to trade in a gas guzzler for a more fuel-efficient models. the senate is expected to pass another $2 billion into this program. jon: so much for the honeymoon. a newlywed is arrested and charged with trying to hire a hit man to kill her husband. they had only been married six months. what was the motive? jane: some lawmakers on august recess going back home might prefer to be in washington. a lot are holding town hall meetings on health care and getting an earful from unhappy constituents. take a listen to a small sampling. [applause] jane: some democrats are calling this manufactured enter. they say it is not real grass- roots opposition. our next guest has had some

emotional four anrums. you are asking now that people are sprsvp. >> why did you make that move? it is possible we will have more people than we can handle. we want to make sure that people let us know they're coming. it is open to all. jane: your critics are saying that the idea is that it is supposed to be open to the public. i can walk in and do not have to register. does it fly in the face of the whole idea of you representing the people? >> the last town hall meeting i had, over 600 people were there. they felt it was a representative group. anyone who wanted to be there was there. the importance is having a dialogue on health care. it gives us an opportunity to try to inform people from inmaryland. i hope we will have meetings

throughout the recess. i want to hear from them. jane: some call this manufactured anger. i think the house speaker called it astroturf, meeting fake grass roots. >> in the town hall meeting i had, that was not the case. people have strong views about health care reform. the overwhelming majority of americans want to participate. they want to know how it affects them, and what it will do with their health insurance through what it will do with their health care costs. those are legitimate questions. i hope that those few people who might try to be disruptive understand that the overwhelming number of people want to get the information. jane: you had close to 600 people. there was a lot of emotion in the room. what did you take away as the overriding message? >> people want to know how

health reform will affect their coverage. people who have health insurance want to know if they will be able to continue with their health care plans. i explained to them. i think they feel more reassured that they will have insurance, not only today, but tomorrow. they're also concerned about cost. they understand that the health- care system is on affordable to many people, and certainly to our economy. it is a stretch. they want to know if this will really bring down health-care costs. they know that a lot of people do not have health insurance. they want to make sure it will not add to their cost. when i explained that they are already paying 11 on the dollar hidden tax on the health care because the people who do not have health insurance -- $1,100 hidden tax. jane: a poll today shows 52% of

people oppose how the president is handling health care. how does he get back on top of this thing? >> the key is to get the information out. there is no one bill in congress. that gives the president a greater challenge to explain his message. as we pointed out, there are some very critical proponents to the president's proposal. he has got to get that out. he has got to get that out that we're more to bring down the cost of health care in america. we're not going to add to the deficit. it will be fully paid for. we want to expand quality, affordable health care in america. he has got to get that message out. jane: senator thank you. >> thank you. jon: on wall street, take a look at the big board. the dow jones has been down throughout the morning. it is still down 36 points. the senate is expected to approve an extra $2 billion for the cash for clunkers program.

cash for clunkers is getting a refill. supporters are pretty glad about that. >> they certainly are. it is almost certain to the senate is expected to vote on this later tonight. it will move? from the stimulus -- it will move $2 billion from the stimulus into cash for clunkers. jon: has this been good for u.s. automakers? >> cash for clunkers has gotten the car market going a little bit again. dealers, manufacturers, and parts suppliers have enjoyed this. economists say it is more of a sugar rush. the money will run out if you look at the top-10 selling cars, four are from american companies. six of the top-10 are toyota, honda, or hyundai.

the big three american cummings are selling less than half the cars in the program. jon: are any of these businesses wanting to stay away from it altogether? >> there is a report in "baltimore sun" that shows junkyard owners are split over this. the clunkers have to be destroyed. but hundreds have to prove the cars will never drive again. when the program started, dealers were overwhelmed by the system of rebate requests. they also worry the the program would run out of money. jon: that sounds like a mess. thank you, rich. jane: for all you guys out there having trouble getting dates, the virtual girlfriend. >> that is right. she will never leave you, i promise. she only cost2 cost.99 at the

iphone app store. she has two hundred preprogrammed reactions. it depends on the time of day and location. she follows you through your gps. she changes outfits and acts differently on special occasions like christmas around constant. she does not like to be touched. you can't have her head or even look up her skirt. right now, she only speaks in japanese, but there are english subtitles. a new web site post to teach teenagers a lesson in giving back. it is sponsored by staples and some other celebrities. they stuffed 500 backpacks with school supplies that were given to students in need. the campaign is encouraging teenagers nationwide to

volunteer in their communities to collect and donates school supplies. we have a link at foxnews.com. have a great day. back to you. jon: storm southwest and heat down south. there may be a little bit of relief in sight. jan sice dean. >> do you know what yesterday's low was in phoenix, ariz.? jon: my sister lives there. i would guess 102. >> the overnight low was a record. jon: i do not have a clue. 91. >> 95. can you imagine that? the knicks had the hottest month on record in july. the average temperature was 98.5 -- thphoenix, arizona had the

hottest month on record in july. take a look at the area. here in new york, 80 degrees. we have not hit 90 degrees this summer yet. incredibly cool temperatures across the northeast. also among the southern plains. with the heat index, it feels oppressive. remember seattle just a couple of days ago? they have the all-time record of 103. the temperatures are dropping. that is the good news. the bad news is we will have the potential for severe weather and the risk for fire danger as the wind will pick up and we could see some dry lightning. flash flood watches in effect in boise. just south and east of the area, we could seek a few inches of rain in a short period.

we have the potential for wildfires for much of the west. that is going to be a dangerous situation. also, some storms across the central plains and the gulf coast region. we could be severe weather. we did have a severe thunderstorm warning and still do just south of monroe. flash flood watches and warnings for this region. as we head into the weekend, we're still dealing with hot tempers across the southern plains and cooler temperatures across the west. in the northeast, it should be a fairly nice weekend. jon: in liking this schoocool. thank you. she loves me. jane: you do not need a virtual girlfriend.

i thought she was mine. i guess not. this woman did not buy the line about for better or for worse. she became something more than a girlfriend. police say this newlywed tried to do something after six months of marriage. it could put her in the slammer for years. this is humiliating. stand still so we can get an accurate reading. okay...um...eighteen pounds and a smidge. a smidge? y'know, there's really no need to weigh packages under 70 pounds. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. cool. you know this scale is off by a good 7, 8 pounds. maybe five. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship.

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martha: we are about to hear a live news conference from the man whose wife, according to police strike 10 shots of vodka and then drove the wrong way down a highway and killed everyone in her car except for a little boy and three men in another copy the husband wants her body exhumed to prove that there is something wrong with the toxicology report. trace: a young couple is vacation in florida. she goes over the balcony. the boyfriend says she felt. the cops say he pushed her.

we will play you the 911 tape and let you decide. jon: a florida newlywed in a whole lot of trouble. police say she tried to hire a hit man to take out her brand new husband. turns out the dead man was an undercover cop -- turns out the hitman was an undercover cop. they dialed up her phone and told her to come home. the police told her her husband was dead. she is breaking down in tears in this video tape. the officer is consoling her. for more, we are joined by stephanie slater of the boynton beach police department. how did you find out about this? >> we received information on friday night. we received a phone call from a

confidential informant. jon: you did not have a lot of time to put this together. >> no, this was pretty fast. on saturday afternoon, we put up for the informant to meet with her at a gas station three during that time, she paid to that person $1,200 to give to the hit man to purchase a handgun jon:. wanted to tell her husband and how did he find out? >> this was yesterday morning. after we knew for sure that she was out the gym, we will keep the her husband and told him what was going on and brought him back to the police department. jon: did he have any idea that his wife supposedly wanted him dead? >> he did not have a clue. jon: they had only been married six months. what was the motive?

>> at this time, we do not know the motive. jon: we have the pictures of her up now. what did she do and what did you tell her when she got to her house? it was surrounded with crime scene tape. >> we wanted her to believe without a doubt that her husband was dead. we have surveillance video of her saying that she is 5000% sure that she wanted her husband dead. we needed to be able to show her reaction as soon as she learned that her husband was dead. jon: what was her reaction? >> she collapsed into the sergeant's arms. there were no tears in her eyes. jon: then came the candid camera moment where you said you are under arrest?

>> we continued to lead her to believe her husband was dead. we brought her back to the police department to speak with her. after some time, we brought in the "hit man" and informed her she was an undercover officer. a minute or two later, we brought her husband by to the interview room so that she could see that he was very much alive. jon: i bet that is when she really collapsed. stephanie's later with boyden beach police, thank you. jane: that is a crazy story. we are getting information from the white house press secretary robert gibbs, wondering when president obama and bill clinton will get together to talk about clinton's trip to north korea. he met with the leader of north korea, kim jong il. mr. gibbs says there is no date for them to meet.

they are continuing a formal briefing. more details after the break. . not long ago, this man had limited mobility.

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jon: that awful situation in the chicago area where burr oak cemetery workers are accused of taking up some great, desecrating the bodies of the people who were buried there so that they could resell the plots, that is making news right now. >> prosecutors in the chicago area announcing just now that a grand jury has put forth an indictment at a court appearance of those former cemetery workers accused industry in that indictment, seven counts that they will face, accusing them of theft and desecrating human remains. the former grave diggers and a former administrator at burr oak cemetery face a seven-count

indictment. they're accused of digging up and dumping the remains, as well as stacking their real vaults on top of them in order to resell the plots, and a scheme that netted an estimated $300,000 for the suspects. they face a seven-count indictment as the story goes forth. a heartbreaking story. finally, some developments. we will keep everyone up to speed. jon: thank you. it is a worldwide virus that already has claimed more than 350 lives just in this country. it has infected thousands more. one american pharmaceutical company says that it has just completed production of the first batch of a vaccine for that virus. where are we on getting the vaccine out to the public? >> many drug companies are fast

tracking, trying to get vaccines developed and get them out to the public with kids getting back to school. they are worried about h1n1 rapidly spreading. chicago-based baxter international is trying out a brand new method of production that has not been approved in the u.s.. they are trying to do everything they can to try to get the vaccine out to the public as soon as possible. jon: i guess drug companies overseas are doing testing. does that mean that we're running behind? >> not necessarily. it completed production of the first batch of vaccine. it will start human clinical trials later on in the month. some european nations like australia have started to do human testing. the u.s. has ordered nine and $79 million worth of vaccines.

it seems where it is manufactured is really going to have no impact on how the vaccine will get here in the u.s.s. jane: the husband of the woman who caused this really awful accident -- she was driving the wrong way on the new york highway -- her husband is about to hold a news conference. police say that she was drunk and she ended up killing seven people, including herself. her husband does not buy this story. you will hear him in moments. call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. a day on the days that you have arthritis pain, you could end up taking 4 times the number... of pills compared to aleve. choose aleve and you could start taking fewer pills. just 2 aleve have the strength... to relieve arthritis pain all day. medicare supplement insurance plan card.

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[captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- jane: the newest member of the san diego zoo can be heard loud and clear. [sqit is coming in pink and careless, but very vocal. it is not known yet whether that baby is a male or female. they will not know for several weeks. zookeeper say that the mother panda is a good mother and immediately started caring for that baby. she is probably saying, keep it down. that is from the san diego zoo. that will do it for us. jon: "the live desk" is up next. we will see you tomorrow. we will see you tomorrow.